High school quarterback throws for 837 yards

10 TD passes in playoff win

Will Grier is still trying to get his head around throwing for a national record 837 yards passing and 10 touchdowns in his team’s 104-80 win in a North Carolina high school state playoff game Friday night.

The Davidson Day High School junior quarterback, being recruited by several top schools around the country, surpassed the mark of 764 yards passing set by Pacific Palisades (Calif.) quarterback David Koral set in 2000.

Davidson Day High advanced to the N.C. Independent Schools’ Division II championship game with the win over Harrells Christian.

Grier says “it was craziest thing I’ve ever been a part of. It was ridiculous.”

In the wild game that lasted nearly four hours, the teams combined for 184 points, surpassing the existing state mark of 142 set in 1930.

The game ended close to midnight, and Grier had no idea he broke any records until the following day.

“My Twitter account just blew up,” Grier said.

Grier said it seemed like the game might never end, but that the Wildcats felt unstoppable on offense.

They scored on every possession except one.

“My goal is always to win; I’m not a stat guy,” Grier said. “I could really care less about records, just as long as we win. Looking back on it though it was like ‘Oh my goodness.’ Our offense was quick, and we just had one of those nights where we were on. Our offensive line played their best game, and the receivers kept making plays. You have to give credit to them.”

Chad Grier, Will’s father and Davidson Day’s head coach, certainly is used to some high-scoring games – Will has thrown 64 touchdown passes this season, one shy of a state record –but he said he’s never seen anything quite like what happened Friday night.

“I sure didn’t come in with a plan for us to score 104 points, and I sure as heck didn’t have a plan to give up 80,” Grier said.

Given the explosive nature of the offenses, the game was always fairly close with Davidson Day never leading by more than 24 points.

The Wildcats felt like they had to keep scoring on every possession to stay comfortably ahead.

“You have to credit the kids at Harrells Christian,” Chad Grier said. “They just kept fighting – and kept scoring.”

As a coach and dad, the elder Grier had to find something to critique his son on after the game.

“He did throw one interception, so I told him what a dumb throw that was,” Chad Grier said with a laugh. “I told him he has to work on his backside throws. You have to find something.”

Grier has scholarship offers from Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, Wake Forest and East Carolina, which is his where his father played in college. He’s also being recruited by Alabama, Duke, N.C. State and Oregon, among others.

Grier said he hopes to make a decision on where to attend college in the spring.